Tipping (over) point

The double-decked buses are proving to be practical, too. They can carry more passengers than an articulated bus, and can operate in worse weather conditions. During snowstorms, for instance, Community Transit has had to stop using the bendable buses, which can jackknife.

A deadly bus crash on I-15 last week has transportation officials changing the way they do business when it comes to vehicle maintenance. Officials say one week before the accident, drivers of the double-decker bus involved in the crash complained about the left tire.

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I was going to say there should be some rule that says heavier people shouldn’t be allowed to ride on the upper deck of the bus, so as to ensure a lower center of gravity, but then I realized that the stairs required to reach the upper level of the bus will themselves serve to detract people of size from wanting to ride up top.

I don’t think the issue was that the double decker buses were top-heavy. From the news article you linked to, it said the tires were to blame and the aerial photo showed the bus upright. The I-15 crash did not tip the bus over. Saying that the buses “have been known to tip over” on the basis of that article is just wrong.

Community Transit states that “70 percent of weight is contained just above floor level on the lower deck.” Hardly top-heavy in my opinion.

I remember taking a trip to Victoria quite a while ago (it was on the Princess Marguerite) and we took a ride out to Butchart Gardens on an old London double-decker bus. This thing weighed about thirty thousand pounds and was propelled by a 75-horsepower diesel engine, with a Leyland transmission–the driver, a rather diminutive woman, had to heave on the shift lever with both hands to get from first to second. On the way out, we wound through some of Victoria’s charming residential districts, but we took the freeway back. At one point, the driver got on the PA system and said, “There…I got this thing up to the speed limit, and nobody better get in the way, because I’m not slowing down until I absolutely have to!”

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